Wall guard for furniture



July 13, 1954 l, v T||U| |N 2,683,328

WALL GUARD FOR FURNITURE Filed NOV. 50, 1949 I 2 Sheets-Shea?l 1 INVENTOR. VWM/' ATTORNEY July 13, 1954 1. v. THULIN l2,683,328

' WALL GUARD FOR FURNITURE Filed Nov. 50, 1.949 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented July 13, v18954 `UNITED STATES PATENT `OFFICE WALL GUARD FOR-FURNITURE Ivar V. Thulin, Upper Darby, Pa. ApplicationNovember 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,250

4 Claims.

My invention relates to new and useful wall guards for furniture of a type wherein legs of any article of furniture may be loosely set upon or in one part thereof which is maintained a definite preselected distance from an adjacent -wall by another part of said wall guard thereby preventing the article of furniture from being accidently or otherwise pushed bodily against the Wall with the possible resulting damage to the wall itself, or the painted or covered surface thereof.

It is a Well known fact that chairs, sofas, settees and the like, having parts protruding beyond the area occupied by the legs, are often moved or accidentally pushed into contact with wall surfaces, sometimes resulting in damage thereto,

'while the legs or feet are still far removed from `effective construction including a strong and rigid stirrup in which a furniture foot rests and a swingable, extensible reach rod so connected with the stirrup that any stress is conducted'from the furniture foot or leg directly through a wall of the stirrup, thence through the reach rod, rather Vthan through the mountings for said reach rod,

toa stop or abutment, such as the lower part of a building wall or the baseboard imposed thereon.

Another object of this invention is to construct a wall guard including a stirru-p comprised of at least three walls preferably produced as a stamping, said walls consisting of a base -Wall,a rear orend wall and a side wall, the latter desirably being of triangular formation and having an inturned flange positioned and secured to the inside surface of the rear wall for strengthening the latter which has a pair of ears punched therefrom to receive the pivot of a reach rod.

Another object of the present invention is to construct the reach rod of telescopin-g elements for extensible purposes which reach rod, preferably, includes a tubular member having'an arcuate inner end pivoted between the earsv of the stirrup for vertical swinging movements, said arcuate end arranged and positioned to allow the reach rodto be elevated andfloweredandwhen lowered having a portion in direct `engagement with the rear Wall oi the lstirrup, said tubular member having an extension member or yrod s'lidably and rotatably mounted therein and therod provided with longitudinally spaced notches for registration with the nose of a resilient latch carried by the outer end of the tubular member Aand engaging the terminal of said tubular member toact as a stop and the outer end of. said sliding rod tipped with a protective element.

A further object of the invention is to provide a resilient latch snugly but removably mounted on the tubular member whereby it may be detached to allow said tubular member to be cut downto va Vshorter length, at which time an end of the vthe wall guard from being accident-ally displaced relative to the furniture foot.

-Withfthe above and other objects in View this vinvention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled` in the art to which "this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its yconstruction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. l' is a side view of a Wall guard constructed in accord-ance with my invention and illustrating its relation to an article of furniture, shown in elevation, and a iioor and wall of a building, which Yparts are depicted in section.

Fig. 2 is 'an enlarged perspective view of the wall guard, looking towards therear W-all of the stirrup, with a portion of the reach rod'broken out.

Fig. 3 is a side View thereof looking into the open side of the stirrup, which wouldy be a right hand one of the devices, .and the reach rod shown Yelevated in dotted lines, and the contractile attaching element removed.

Fig. lis a fragmentary perspective view of the device looking Ainto the openfront oi the stirrup, which `would be a left hand one of the devices, the reach rod being broken oir and the contractile attaching element removed.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of thereach rod on the line-S of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line E--S of Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a top plan View of the right hand one of the devices with a portion of the reach rod broken away. f

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied I0 represents either one of a pair of wall guards which are identical in construction, except that the side wall is on either the right or left hand side of the stirrup, so that the description of one of the wall guard members applies to both.

Each wall guard or wall guard member includes a stirrup II, preferably but not necessarily, made from a stamping of sheet metal and comprising a base wall I2, a vertical rear wall I3 and a vertical side wall I4 desirably of triangular shape whereby its upper edge is inclined from the forward edge of the base wall to the upper edge of the rear wall. wall is either at the left or right hand sidev of the stirrup according to whether the device as designed is to be used with a right or left leg of an article of furniture. Of course it is possible to employ the device in a reverse position but it is designed to have the side wall at the inner side, so as to be less conspicuous, thus leaving the forward end, outer side and top of the stirrup open.

When the stirrup is made as a stamping, the

rear and side walls are bent up from the base wall and said side wall has an inturned flange I5 projecting from the rear edge of said side wall and imposed against the inner surface of the rear wall to which it is secured, as by welding. rIhis will assist in taking some of the strains and strengthen the rear wall.

The rear wall I3 of the stirrup carries a pair of spaced ears I5 projecting outwardly from the back surface of said rear wall and be stamped therefrom by partially severing suitable areas from the wall material and punching or bending said areas outwardly. Apertures Il are formed in the rear and side walls, one adjacent the upper inclined edge of said side wall and the -i other adjacent the free edge of said rear wall. The ends of an attaching means I8, to partially encircle a leg I9 of an article of furniture 29, Fig. l, are inserted in said apertures to detachably connect said attaching means with the stirrup of the wall guard. While said attaching means I8 may be merely a piece of string or the like, preferably it is a coil spring, as shown, or some equivalent thereof having elastic qualities.

An extensible reach rod 2l is pivoted or swingingly mounted between the ears I6 by a pivot 22 projected through said ears and a portion of said reach rod and said pivot is held in place in any suitable manner, as by heading the ends thereof. The extensible reach rod 2l includes a tubular member 23, which is the part pivoted between the cars It, and a sliding member 24 telescopically mounted in said tubular member and projecting from the outer end of the latter. The inner end of the tubular member 23, Fig. 6, has a shoulder 25 contiguous the lower circumference of said tubular member to engage the back surface of the rear stirrup wall I3 between the ears I6 to function as a stop for limiting the downward movement of the reach rod to approximately the horizontal position and also acting as a direct contact with the stirrup rear wall so that any force applied to Said rear wall will be directed therethrough to the reach rod rather than through the ears and pivot.

Said side From the shoulder 25, above the same, extends the arcuate receding edge 26 of the inner end of the tubular member 23 to clear the rear wall I3 of the stirrup and allow the extensible reach rod to be elevated, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, whereby a cleaning device may be inserted behind the article of furniture without detaching the wall guard or moving the furniture.

The sliding member 24 of the extensible reach rod 2I is held in any one of a number of extended positions by a latch 21 produced from spring metal and including a split resilient collar 28 which snugly ts the tubular member so that the latch will retain its position under normal conditions but can be detached when necessary or desirable. From the collar 28 projects an integral resilient tongue 29 extending longitudinally of the tubular member 23 to the outer terminal end of the latter where an inturned nose 39 is formed by bending the terminal outer end of said tongue at substantially right angles thereto. The nose 3B is to engage the outer end of the tubular member and enter one of a plurality of longitudinally spaced notches 3I the bottoms of which are all in one plane and form secants of the cross area of the sliding member 24 of less length, preferably, than the diameter of said sliding member. Particular attention is called to the fact that the nose 3i] of the latch 27 is, by preference, wider than the length of the secant or bottom of a notch. This makes it possible for the latch nose to be cammed out of a notch due to either corner, formed between the bottom of a notch and the circumference of the sliding member, riding under the tip of the nose and lifting the latch nose until the latter rests on the solid portion of the circumference of said sliding member as the latter is rotated in either direction. When the latch nose is resting on a solid portion of sliding member, in angular relation to the notches, said sliding member may be moved any distance thereof lengthwise, When the desired adjustment, approximately or accurately, is obtained, the sliding member is again rotated until the notches are uppermost and the bottoms thereof are approximately horizontal. The nose of the latch will enter a notch or be caused to do so by a slight forward or rearward movement of the sliding member.

The outer or free end of the extensible reach rod, more particularly the outer end of the sliding member 24, has an elastic buffer 32 of suitable cushioning material mounted thereon to prevent marring of any object with which said extensible reach rod may come into endwise contact.

In practice, a wall guard apparatus may be under each rear leg it of an article of furniture with said leg resting on the base wall of the stirrup and against the rear wall thereof. This should be done while the reach rod is retracted and then the article of furniture is pushed back towards the wall 33 until the approximate location is obtained. The reach rod is now extended until the outer end of said reach rod contacts the lower part of the Wall or a base board 34 or said outer end of said reach rod approaches the wall, or the base board part thereof, a distance more than the space between any rearward overhanging portion of the article of furniture. lf the end of the reach rod is not in contact with the wall, when the former is extended, the article of furniture is moved farther rearwardly until said end of the reach rod does engage the wall. Thereafter, the

article of furniture is held against any rearward movement and any force applied that would have a tendency to push said article of furniture backward will be directed straight through the rear wall of the stirrup to the reach rod, because of direct contact between the rear stirrup wall and said reach rod, and thence through said reach rod to the wall or other fixed abutment. ln other words, the ears of the stirrup and pivot merely act as a hinge connecting means between the stirrup and reach rod and do not have to withstand pressures transmitted from the article of furniture through the guard to the wall.

Also, it will be noted, that any tendency to retract the reach rod is stopped by the nose of the latch against a side wall of a notch and the outer terminal end of the tubular member, which provides a strong and substantial structural feature.

If it is found that the reach rod is too long for any particular installation, the sliding member and latch may be removed from the tubular member and some portion of the outer end of said tubular member and a similar portion of the inner end of said sliding member cut oi and the parts reassembled.

In placing the article of furniture and guards together it is preferred that the side walls of the stirrups be placed against the inner side surfaces of the legs of said article of furniture to obscure all possible parts of the guards whiie in use.

The attaching means for temporarily joining the wall guards to an article of furniture may be used to prevent disconnection when it becomes necessary to shift said article of furniture.

It is unnecessary to remove the guards when cleaning behind the article of furniture as the reach rods may be swung upwardly into the elevated position, indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, to permit a broom or other cleaning instrumentality to be inserted between the back of the article of furniture and the adjacent wall with little or no interference.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided a simple and compact device which is inexpensive to manufacture, neat in appearance, durable and highly emcient, and does not have to be fixed to the article of furniture with the attendant possibility of marring the same.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is:

1. A wall guard for furniture, comprising a stirrup to receive the foot portion of a leg of an article of furniture, ears on said stirrup, a tubular member of a reach rod having one end pivoted between said ears for generally vertical movements, a sliding member rotatably and slidably mounted in said tubular member, and means on the free end of said tubular member to selectively engage with longitudinally spaced notches in the sliding member for temporarily holding it in various eX- tended positions.

2. A wall guard for furniture, comprising a stirrup having a base, rear and one side wall, outwardly projecting ears extending from the back` of said rear wall, a tubular member of a reach rod pivoted at its inner end between said ears for generally Vvertical swinging movements, a stop shoulder on the inner end of said tubular member to directly engage said rear wall of the stirrup and limit the downward movement of the tubular member, an arcuate edge on the inner end of said tubular member beyond the shoulder whereby said tubular member may swing upwardly, a resilient latch on the outer end of the tubular member and including a nose extending inwardly over a portion of and in contact with the terminal end of said member, and a sliding member telescopically and rotatably mounted in the tubular member and projectable from the outer end of the latter, said sliding member having a series of longitudinally spaced notches for selective registration with the nose of said latch to maintain the sliding member in any desired projected location.

3. The wall guard of claim 2, in combination with an elastic connecting element having its ends detachably fastened to the rear and side walls of the stirrup to embrace the leg of an article of furniture sitting in said stirrup.

4. The wall guard according to claim 2 wherein the bottom walls of the notches are secants of the cross sectional area of the sliding member of a length less that the diameter thereof, the nose of the latch being wider than the bottom walls of said noches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 85,361 Boyden Dec. 29, 1868 630,734 Oothout Aug. 8, 1899 1,445,726 Soros Feb. 20, 1923 1,887,283 Brabson Nov. 8, 1932 2,281,684 Fijux May 5, 1942 2,519,466 Hauser Aug. 22, 1950 

